Tips for Getting that Work-at-Home Copy Editing Job

As I've mentioned in my post about my work-at-home copy-editing job, one of the most important requirements for getting a copy-editing job is that you must know the rules of grammar and punctuation.

What is the easiest way to do this?

The fastest way to get that copy-editing job

Take some time to read the Chicago Manual of Style, specifically, chapters 5 (grammar) and 6 (punctuation). Chapters 7 (spelling, distinctive treatment of words, and compounds), 8 (names and terms), and 9 (numbers) are good too, although most of what you need to know from chapter 7 can be found simply by typing in a word in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary.

The CMS, incidentally, is a rather expensive book, but you could read it for free by going to the CMS Web site and opening a free 30-day-trial account to access the contents for thirty days.

But before you decide to apply for that copy-editing job, there are a few things to consider:

Would you enjoy copy editing?

You don't want to be in a job you would not enjoy, so think first if this is the kind of job you would want to do for eight hours a day, five days a week.

The easiest way to gauge this? Think of how you felt when you found out that you need to read about grammar and punctuation:

     Did your heart sink?
     Did your eyes widen with excitement?
     Or did you never reach this part of my blog because you had already gone off to the CMS Web site, so eager were you to read about the fine points of subject-verb agreement and the use of the semicolon?

Then, there is another thing to consider:

Would you enjoy a work-at-home job?

A work-at-home job can be significantly less convenient than an office-based one (see The World of the Work-at-Home Mom), so know the pros and cons before you decide to quit your office job to work at home.

Incidentally, not all of inWrite's copy editors work at home. In fact, most of our regular copy editors work at the Makati office.

But if you live in Montalban (like me) or in Cebu (like others), commuting to Makati every day can eat up a huge amount of time -- which is time away from the kids. That's why I chose the work-at-home option.

When you've decided for sure that a copy-editing job is for you, work-at-home or not, then you can send your résumé to inWrite.com.

Please feel free to email me for more questions. And if you are sending an application, good luck!

UPDATE: From what I last heard, inWrite no longer accepts home-based editors. But they still accept office-based ones. Office is in Makati.

Posted in: work at home